Automatic railway-crossing guard.



G Tf HARDENBURGH & J. A. SGHROYER. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY CROSSING GUARD. APPLICATION FILED P31127, 1911.

1 ,023,01 5, Patented A131119, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

is Ww Z NLR I @woz/neg G. T. HARDENBURGH J. A. SGHROYER.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY CROSSING GUARD.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 27, 1911. I

Patented Apr. 9, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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lUNITED sTATEs PATENT ,oiriioul` GUY T. HARDENBUBGH AND JAMEsA. solarium,- opmma, Iowa.

AUroMA'rIc'- narLwAYf-enossmc GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent. l

'Application filed February 27, 1911.V Serial No, 611,213.-

To all whom 'it may concern.-

Be it known that we, GUYT. I-IAisDEN-v nunon and JAMES A. Sonnoynmcitizens of the United States, residin atl Ira, in the county of Jasper, State o Iowa, have in.

vented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Railwayy Crossing Guards; and we do lhereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invent-ion, such as will enable others skilled in the art `to which itapper- "tains to make and uselthe same.

Our invention relates to improvements in automatic railway. crossing guards and more particularly to devicesof this character which a pivoted barrier is caused to y swing Aof the line rails atja suitable distancefrom the crossing andadapted to be moved in a certain manner by the approach of a train in one direction and in a different manner by the approach of a train in the opposite direction., and means whereby these motions maybe communicated to a barrierto lowerland raise the same. 4

The.' invention further consists in a cer= tain construction, combination and arrangement of 'parts as will be hereinafter more fully set forth, particularly.' pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, which show a prferred embodiment of the invention.

In these drawings, which are attached to j and. form a part of this application, Figure .1 is a ytop plan view of a railway1V crossing and showing our improved crossing guards installed. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a secl tional elevation on the line 3-3 of'Fig. 1,

and Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail plan view of a false rail spring showing the means of se- .,curing the same tothe tiefyFig.l 5- is a section through the line 5-5 of Fig.' 2.

Referring more specifically tothfese views, in which similar reference numerals designate "corsponding parts throughout, 1 inf' dicates in general the 'road-bed to which .bers being revolubly mounted are anchored by meansof the (ties 2, line rails 3 and 4. A highway, not shown',

-.crosses the roadbed adjacent one end of the figure.

In order to close the crossing a bar- Patent-.emana a, 191e. n n

rier 6 is pivoted' as at 7 in a po'st 8 at one. y side of the highway and as shown in Fig. 2 Y

the barrier may be disposed in an elevated or lowered-position. to bar` or vleaveA open the crossing as may be required. As is obvious it is .desirable that this barrier should, be drop edacross the highway some time,y before t e approach of the ytrain and oshould be elevated again when the'train has passed.

I n order to. accomplish this result the barrier operating mechanisms designated in general by 9 and 10 are positioned upon the j ltrack at .suitable distances on either side of the crosslng and are connected with the bar-V rier itself` in such amanner that the same will be lowered as the train passes over the irst of said mechanisms and elevated when the second has been passed.,

Referring to F ig. 2 of 'the-drawings, it

will be seen that .the mechanism 9 comprises 80k a. horizontal member 11, which will becalled: the false rail, having the arcuate or sloping ends 12.. springs 13, each ofwhich as shown in Fig.

Secured to these ends are leaf y 4 has its outer end s'lidably secured to a tie 8.5 by meansy of thetrunnions 14 working in 5 the slotted ears 15. The normal tendency of the springs 13 is to hold the'false rail 11 in a' horizontal position vand slightly above the level ofthe line rails. In' order to maintain this false rail in horizontal posi-` tion at all times it is provided adjacent each end with afZ shaped pivotal r supporting member 15', one'arm of each of saidmema suit- -able bore formed in the rail vWhilst-me other arm is similarly mounted inta bon formed in the false rail. Cast integrally withv or secured to/the under face vof thefalse` rail 11 is an arm 16. Designating the `two ties beneath the false rail bythe numeraly2, it will be seen that the space between these rails is occupied by a hollow or box like structure 17 which as shown "in Fig. 1 ex# tends completely across the track and some distance outwardly onfeither side ofv the same,v Carried in's'uitable journals in this box is a rock-shaft 18. Secured to the rockshaft immediately beneath the false. rail 11 is al U-shapedor bifurcated piece 19 which 11o the T-section 16. The outerl end of the rock-` shaft is provided with the oppositely disposed arms 20 and 21 the ends Vof which are preferably formed with eyes therein.

Communicating with tle outward end of the box 17 is the cable conduit 22 which is disposed parallel to the track and ends at the base of the post 8. From Fig. 3it will be seen that this post or pillar is a hollow member, preferably a casting. The barrier 6 is as previously described ivoted in the upper end of the standardan capable of oscillation in the slot 23. The pivoted or journaled end of the barrier 6, which will be here designated as 24 has a threaded aperture' in which is s'ecured the eye-bolt 26. To this eye-bolt is secured a relatively heavy helical spring 27 which is fastened. at its lower end 28 to the bottom surface ofthe post cavity. The tension of this spring is such that a slight additional force vwill raise the barrier 6. A recessed pulley wheel 33 is revolubly mounted upon the bearing 7 and a coil spring 34 is secured in said recess about the pivot 7 one end of said spring being secured to the `barrier member and thel other end passing out through an aperture in 'the periphery of the pulley and'bent to form the eye 34. A spring pawl 35 secured to the inner portion of the easing 8 is adapted to engage a notch 36 upon the pulley 33. This pulley is provided with a laterallyv directed pin 33 which bears against the barrier 6 and holds the same in raised position when `the pulley is locked bythe spring pawl 35. A lever 37, is pivoted near its upper portion to the casing and has its upper end-bearing against the spring pawl 35. A cable 30, in which is inserted the helical spring 29, connects the arm 2O wit-h an eye 34 of the spring 34, passing over a pulley 31 in the base of the post. It will be seen that counter-clockwise rotation'of the rockshaft 18 will elevate the barrier from the position shown in dotted lines to that 'shown in full lines. A cable 32 secured to the arm 21 and passing over pulleys 31 and 31'is connected with the lower end of the pawl releasing lever 37 and it will be seen that al clockwise rotation of the rock-shaft will by means of this cable permit the lever 37 to return to its normal position. The cable 32 is also provided with a tension spring intermediate its length as shown at 29.

'.lhe track mechanism 10 similar to the one above described is connected to the barrier post by means of cables 30 lind 32, the cable 30 being secured at the point of attachment of the cable 30 While the cable 32 is secured to the point of attachment of that designated 32. These cables as shown are passed over suitable pulleys V30 and 32 respectively. l

The operationof the mechanism above described is as follows. As a trainl appreaches the crossing from the Qleft,i thev wheel anges will strike the sloping or arc# ate surfaces 12 of the false rails 11 of the mechanism giving to the same a longitudinal motion. At thev same time the false rail will be depressed and engaging that arm of the U-member 19 nearest the crossing ,will cause the rock-shaft 18 to be rotated inV a clockwise direction, which will release the pulley and allow the barrier 6 to swing byy gravity into a horizontal position and thus guard the crossing. After havingpassed the crossing' the wheel flanges of the train will engage the track mechanism 10, rotating the rock-shaft of this mechanism 'also in a clock-wise direction. The connections of the cables- 30 and 32 are such however that this rotation will elevate the barrier, at the same time returning the rock-shaft 19 to its, normal position. The falserails are returned to the elevated central position by the spring 13 as soon as they are relieved from the wheel flange pressures. The func tion of the helical springs 29 and 29 is to absorb the shock incident to elevating lor lowering the barrier. 'It will also be seen that these springs will permit of both track mechanisms being operated at the same time, as in the passage of an exceptionally long train, without breaking thecables or ,otherwise straining the mechanism.

The function of the spring 34 is the same as that of the springs 29. As will be seen when the barrier 6 is in its lowered position the pull exerted upon either the cable 30 or 30 will revolve the pulley 33, thus tightening the spring 34 and through it raisingA the barrier 6, the full strain of the barrier however is not thrown upon the cable at once, but is gradually .increased as the spring 34 is tightened. With this construction'the springs'29 may be entirely done away with if desired, although I prefer-,to use both the spring 34 and the springs 29, thusavoiding all possibility of breaking of the mechanism. It will thus be seen that the turning of either of the rock shafts will cause a corresponding turning of the other and therefore both rock shafts will be turned twice by' the passage of a train. Because of this they will both be in the same position after the 4passage of the train in which they were in before its passage. It will of course be generally necessary to provide a duplicate crossing guard on' the other side of the track, and it is obvious. that this mechanismv may be operated either independently of or in conjunction with the op-v posite guard as'may be preferred.

' Although we have shown and described the invention as being operated by cables it will readily be understood that the common or .any preferred form of motion transmitting rods, such as those used in blockhouse switch control systems, may be substituted, in which case the pulleys 31 will be for locking. said pul replaced by bell-crank levers; and it also obvious that if a rod isfused only one connection vwill-be necessary between the track mechanisms and the barrier since the' rod. will :be capable of transmittingboth compression and tension.

' 'W hat we claimis:

1. In a railway crossing guard, in combination, a barrier adapted to close the crossing, a false rail secred to the' track andr 'adapted tov be moved by the flange of wheel passing over said track, a rock-shaft joui'naled beneath said track, a U-arm secured'to said rock-shaft, a downwardly extended portion on said false rail adapted to engage one arm of said U with the passage of a wheel iange in one direction and to engage the other arm of said U with thepassage ofa wheel llange passing in the opposite direction and'means for transmitting motion from said 4rocklshaft to said barrier.` 2. In a railway crossing guard, in combination, a barrier pivoted on one side of the crossing and adapted to close the same, false rails disposed on either side of the crossingf land parallel and adjacentto the innertread `v ofa line rail, means whereby the passage of :a wheel flange over said rail will cause said false rails to move longitudinally and ISO downwardly, the`- direction of longitudinal movement being dependent upon the direcvltion of :not-ionof the wheel, rock-shafts journaled-beneath. said false rails, U-arms securedfto said rock-shafts?, downwardly exf 85' tended' portionson said cross rails adapted to engage lone arm of said Us withl the passaga of `a wheel inV one direction and the other. arm'with the p'assa e of a wheel inthe 'opposite direction,'. an I. .means` whereby 40 similar rotation of said,nick-shaftsA will cause oppositely directed rotations of saidv barrier. nl; Y i 8; Ina railway Icrossing guard, 'the combination, of a barrierpivoted `fonone side of the 'crossing andl'adaptedto close the same, a a 'grooved pulley mountedfor rotationu on the pivot boltof lthe barrier, vand provi ed witha pin engaging'lsaid barrier, a catch ey against rotation, a

lever for releasing lsaid catch, false rails said barrier, levers pivoted intermediate theirlength' and operable by saidffalse rails, cables connect-ing upper arms of said levers with the pulley, and cables connecting the leasing lever.

LL .In a railway crossing guard, the combination, of a barrier pivoted on one sideof lthe crossing and adapted to fall by gravity to close t-he same, means for cushioning the ing in raising the same, a grooved pulley mounted for rotation upon the pivot bolt of the barrier and provided `with a' pin ening said pulley against-rotation, avlever for releasing said catch, false rails carried by the line rails uponleither side of` sai'd barrier, levers pivoted intermediate their length and' operable by said false rails, cables connecting the upper arms of said levers with arms of said levers with the catch 'releasing lever. h

5. In a railway crossing guard, the coma groved pulley mounted for rotation upon the pivot bolt ofthe barrier, means coact'lng` with said pulley. 'to engage with said barrier, means'for locking said pulley against rotation, means for releasing said locking means, false. railscarriedby the `line rails on either side of said barrier, levers pivoted lintermediate their length and operable Aby arms offsaid levers with the pulley, and cables connecting the lower arms of said levers with the lock releasing means.

tures in `presence `ot two witnesses.

f GUY T. HARDENBURGH. JAMES A .SCHROYER Witnesse'szfn'f- LomI. HARDING,

'I A." W. JnrrRrnD.

gaging Withasaid barrier, a catchf'or' lock bination of a ,barrier pivoted on one side of ,the crossing and adapted to close-the same,

saidfalse rails,`cables connect-ing the upper lower arms o'said levers with the catch re-g fall of said barrier, said means 'also' assist- 9o vIn testimony whereof, we aliix oursigna- V:so carried by the line rails on either Aside of 

